New Delhi: New Zealand's next Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Sunday condemned the "abhorrent" treatment endured by Jacinda Ardern and pledged to protect his own family, three days after her expected resignation, news agency AFP reported.


Hipkins denounced the personal abuse suffered by Ardern during her tenure as the prime mister, hours after he was unanimously elected by Labour Party MPs as the party's leader and the nation's next prime minister.


"The way Jacinda has been treated, particularly by some segments of our society -- and they are a small minority -- has been utterly abhorrent," Hipkins said.


"It does not represent who we are as a country," said the 44-year-old education and police minister.


He urged men to call out misogyny and abuse of women when they see it, saying "I think we often leave it to women to say ‘this isn’t okay and I don’t feel okay about that’ and many women don’t feel comfortable talking in that way. So I think we as men have a responsibility to call it out when we see it and to say that it’s not okay,” during a news conference on Sunday in Wellington, AFP reported.


Jacinda Arden on Thursday announced her sudden resignation from the top post ahead of this year's election saying she no longer has "enough in the tank" to lead.


"I had hoped to find a way to prepare for not just another year, but another term - because that is what this year requires. I have not been able to do that," Ardern told a news conference.



Criticising the "vitriol" Ardern was subjected to as prime minister, Hipkins said, “Jacinda’s leadership has been an inspiration to women and girls everywhere.” “But it’s also been a reminder that we’ve got a way to go when it comes to ensuring that women in leadership receive the same respect as their male counterparts."


The future prime minister said he understood that putting himself forward as a leader meant he was "public property".


"But my family aren't," he told reporters.


"I have seen the enormous scrutiny and pressure placed on Jacinda and her family and so my response will be to keep my family completely out of the spotlight," he said.


Hipkins would swear in as the nation's 41st prime minister on Wednesday after Ardern formally steps down.


(With inputs from AFP)